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<?xml encoding="UTF-8"><html><body><div id="attachment_117516" style="width: 710px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-117516" onerror="kspReplaceCdn(this)" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-117516 size-full" src="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/pexels-cottonbro-studio-5999072.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="466" srcset="https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/pexels-cottonbro-studio-5999072.jpg 700w, https://wp.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/files/u36736/pexels-cottonbro-studio-5999072-320x213.jpg 320w" sizes="(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px">Photo courtesy of <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/girls-studying-while-looking-at-their-laptop-5999072/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pexels</a></div>The PSLE is done, but the stress isn&rsquo;t over yet!&nbsp;In late November, the PSLE results will be released, and secondary school selection begins. How do you choose the right school for your child, and what does &lsquo;right&rsquo; mean?&nbsp;
Below, we look at some common questions that parents might have about choosing secondary schools, and offer our insights to help you navigate this major decision.
<h2>&ldquo;Should I prioritise academic excellence or a nurturing environment for my child&rsquo;s secondary education?&rdquo;</h2>
One way to answer this question is to reflect on your family&rsquo;s values. If kindness, empathy, and personal growth are highly valued by your family, a nurturing environment will align better with these principles. Conversely, if your family places a strong emphasis on academic achievement and competitiveness, you may lean toward a school known for its academic excellence.
Another perspective to consider is your child&rsquo;s individual needs and personality. Some children thrive in academically rigorous settings, where they are challenged to excel, while others may flourish in a nurturing environment where they receive personalised attention and emotional support.
Some questions that can guide discussions between you and your child are:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Tell me about a time where you felt you enjoyed learning in primary school.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How would you feel in a class where everyone&rsquo;s scoring As, but you may need a little more time to catch up?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What would you do if you&rsquo;re still struggling to understand a concept, but everyone around you seems to have no questions?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">If you don&rsquo;t understand a teacher&rsquo;s explanation in school, what would you do next?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you think it&rsquo;s more important that you have a kind teacher, or one that helps you to score As?</li>
</ul>
<h2>&ldquo;I attended &lsquo;brand-name&rsquo; schools and don&rsquo;t know much about neighbourhood schools. Based on my child&rsquo;s grades, I doubt she&rsquo;ll follow in my footsteps, and I don&rsquo;t know how to help her pick schools.&rdquo;</h2>
If you attended top schools during your childhood, it&rsquo;s likely that you&rsquo;re wrestling with your own expectations and comfort zones, along with a very specific notion of what makes a &lsquo;good&rsquo; school. Do accept and own your feelings, and if needed, try journaling, or have a heart-to-heart talk with your partner or a trusted friend.&nbsp;
It may help to think about the people in your life who&rsquo;ve attended under-the-radar schools: What are their strengths? Do they have fulfilling careers and lives? This can offer a reality check, and remind you that personal success can be achieved through diverse educational paths.&nbsp;
Above all, you do want to help your child make an informed choice. The best way is to find out what goes on in neighbourhood schools, and the Ministry of Education&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.schoolbag.edu.sg/education/secondary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Schoolbag</a> website is a good place to begin.&nbsp;
If your child has specific interests, use the <a href="https://www.moe.gov.sg/schoolfinder?journey=Secondary%20school" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SchoolFinder</a> platform to filter schools by subjects, electives, and co-curricular activities. Make a list of schools, visit their websites, and find out when their year-end open house dates are, so that you can hear from the staff and tour the schools. Through your social networks, you may have the chance to talk to existing students, and these are questions you can ask:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What do you like most about attending this school?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Have you approached teachers about your academic or personal challenges? How did they respond?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you feel excited about what you&rsquo;re learning?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do you feel socially accepted in school? Who are the popular kids? Are your closest friends from your class, or from your CCA?</li>
</ul>
If you are able to link up with parents of existing students, you can ask the following:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Why did you choose this school for your child?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How has your child&rsquo;s academic progress been?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How do teachers communicate with parents, and are you happy with the interactions?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How does the school handle discipline issues like bullying?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What does the school do well, and what improvements are needed?</li>
</ul>
You can also post questions in forums such as our <a href="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewforum.php?f=48" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KSP forum</a>. We&rsquo;re sure our members will be happy to offer their two cents!
<h2>&ldquo;Most of my child&rsquo;s classmates will opt for their affiliated secondary school. The community is great but the location isn&rsquo;t ideal.&rdquo;</h2>
This is a familiar dilemma for many parents, and it&rsquo;s a good time to teach your child about trade-offs, which they will continue to face throughout their lives.&nbsp;
Before you do that, you and your child can test the commute in your spare time, to see how long the journey takes, and what&rsquo;s considered &lsquo;acceptable.&rsquo; Is an hour-long commute too long? It really depends on your child&rsquo;s school routine and after-school commitments.
At the same time, talk to your child about what they stand to gain by continuing with the affiliated school. If your child is thriving in the current environment and has held leadership roles, they may not want to start afresh and build their networks all over again. On the other hand, if your child has experienced social challenges in school, they may be quite happy to wipe the slate clean in a new environment.
Of course, life decisions are seldom clear-cut or straightforward. Here are some questions for reflection:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Are there any creative solutions that can address the commute issue, such as exploring carpooling options?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How does your child handle change and adapt to new environments?&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What are your child&rsquo;s preferences and concerns about changing schools, or dealing with a longer commute?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">If given only two choices, will your child be happier in a familiar environment with a long commute, or an unfamiliar environment that is nearby?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Do the other schools on your list align with your family&rsquo;s values?</li>
</ul>
<h2>&ldquo;A secondary school that we&rsquo;re keen on is co-ed, but my child is currently in a single-sex school. I&rsquo;m not sure if my child can adapt quickly.&rdquo;</h2>
If your child has a strong interest in a particular school that aligns with their passion and can provide opportunities for growth, it would be unfortunate to dismiss it solely based on whether it is a co-ed or single-sex school.&nbsp;
Instead, consider the overall educational environment, teaching quality, extracurricular activities, and the school&rsquo;s ability to nurture your child&rsquo;s interests. Keep in mind that a school&rsquo;s ability to foster your child&rsquo;s growth and enthusiasm often outweighs the single-sex or co-ed factor, as long as the environment is supportive and conducive to their goals.&nbsp;
That said, we do acknowledge that for some children, it may be wiser to wait before switching them to a co-ed environment. Here are some questions to think about before making the transition:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Is your child comfortable interacting with the opposite gender?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Is your child mature enough to handle mixed-gender interactions and potential distractions?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Does your child have a preference for single-sex or co-ed schools?</li>
</ul>
Ultimately, the decision to choose between a single-sex or co-ed school should revolve around what will best nurture your child&rsquo;s potential, interests, and overall well-being.&nbsp;

Wonder how other parents are choosing secondary schools? <a href="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=69&amp;t=92232" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chat with Primary 6 parents on our KSP forum</a>!
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Choosing a Secondary School: Parent Dilemmas and How To Resolve Them

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PSLE 2022 kicks off in mid-August, with the oral exams. Next, the Listening Comprehension exams will be held in mid-September, and finally, the written exams will take place in late September and early October. (Get the official PSLE 2022 schedule <a href="https://www.seab.gov.sg/home/examinations/psle" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.)
The results for PSLE 2022 will be released in late November, which gives you almost two months to evaluate school options for your child. However, it&rsquo;s not too early to start thinking about this now &mdash; many parents are already searching for information on secondary school choices!&nbsp;
How should you evaluate secondary schools and pick the right one for your child? Read on to find out.
<h2>First, Reflect on Your Attitude Towards Grades</h2>
Need a refresher on the new PSLE scoring system by Achievement Levels or ALs? Get the most accurate information on the <a href="https://www.moe.gov.sg/microsites/psle-fsbb/psle/new-psle-scoring-system.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ministry of Education (MOE) website</a>.&nbsp;
Everyone will agree that a PSLE total score of 4 is an excellent result. But what about a score of 8, 10, 15, or 20? Before you even think about choosing secondary schools, do think about the value that you place on grades. We know that between different families, what it means to &lsquo;do well&rsquo; or &lsquo;do badly&rsquo; can vary greatly!&nbsp;
Our advice is to have a plan for discussing grades with your child, so that your expectations will be aligned on what the targeted result is. From experience, we know that PSLE disappointment is usually due to these reasons:
<ul>
<li>Your child falls slightly short of qualifying for a &lsquo;dream&rsquo; school</li>
<li>Your child qualified for Express, with a borderline score</li>
<li>Your child doesn&rsquo;t qualify for a preferred stream</li>
<li>Your child doesn&rsquo;t qualify for N(T), and will have to either repeat the PSLE or explore an alternative pathway such as NorthLight School.</li>
</ul>
To mentally prepare yourself for any of the above situations &mdash; well ahead of time &mdash; read <a href="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/article/did-badly-for-the-psle-stand-by-your-kids-and-theyll-be-ok/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">our guide</a> on dealing with PSLE disappointment. Remember: your love and support will make all the difference in the world!
<h2>Next, Identify Factors that Matter for a Secondary School</h2>
Once your child receives his/her PSLE results, you can use <a href="https://www.moe.gov.sg/schoolfinder?journey=Secondary%20school" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MOE&rsquo;s SchoolFinder</a> to filter schools by:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">PSLE score range</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Distance from your home</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">General location</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">CCAs</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Subjects offered</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Electives and programmes</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Support for special educational needs</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Co-ed or single-sex</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Affiliations</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400"><a href="https://www.moe.gov.sg/education-in-sg/our-schools/types-of-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">School type</a> e.g. Independent School, Special-Assistance Plan (SAP) School, Integrated Programme (IP) School</li>
</ul>
However, you don&rsquo;t have to wait till your child gets the actual results to start browsing schools. Your child&rsquo;s teachers might have already given him/her an expected PSLE score range, which you can use for now. As with all major decisions, it&rsquo;s good to get an early start!&nbsp;
For parents who enjoy crunching numbers, you can have some fun by assigning a weightage to each factor that you want to prioritise, such as 50% for offering a particular subject or CCA. (The sum of all your weightages should add up to 100%.) You can then give each school a score, according to whether it has what you&rsquo;re looking for &mdash; learn how to create a weighted scoring model in Excel<a href="https://www.exceldemy.com/create-a-weighted-scoring-model-in-excel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> here</a>.
Prefer to keep things fuss-free? That&rsquo;s perfectly valid too. In our opinion, choosing a secondary school isn&rsquo;t too different from choosing a primary school, except that there is now an entry score criterion.&nbsp;
Below are some questions to consider:
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;Do we need a strategy for choosing secondary schools?&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
Although P6 students are free to select up to six schools during the Secondary 1 posting process, the MOE&rsquo;s advice is to choose at least two or three schools where your child&rsquo;s PSLE score is better than the school&rsquo;s cut-off point, i.e. what we call &lsquo;safety schools,&rsquo; where your child is almost guaranteed entry. 

The MOE has also estimated that cut-off points will typically fluctuate by 1 point &mdash; meaning that if a school&rsquo;s cut-off point was 8 last year, this year it could be either 7 or 9.
This is why a cautious parent might list a &lsquo;dream&rsquo; school as the first choice, followed by safety schools for the remaining five choices. Again, this would depend on the popularity of the schools that your child is applying for.
To avoid stress, don&rsquo;t overthink this. What we know is that 90% of students will probably not need to undergo balloting, and most students will be posted to one of their six school choices. So the most important thing is to make sure that you and your child are happy with your chosen schools!


<ul>
<li>&ldquo;Should we choose a nearby school, or a &lsquo;better&rsquo; one that is further away?&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
Here&rsquo;s one way to think about this: would you reject Harvard purely because it&rsquo;s &ldquo;too far away?&rdquo; Or, to put this in more relatable terms, should your child say &ldquo;no&rdquo; to a growth opportunity in favour of convenience? 

There are trade-offs to every decision, which is why it&rsquo;s best to discuss this as a family. For many families, schools that are 45 minutes to an hour away by public transport are still considered convenient, especially since your child is now older and able to travel independently. And with new public transport developments such as the opening of stations along the new Thomson-East Coast MRT line, many schools will be more accessible in the near future.
But if location remains a priority for you, do check if the school you&rsquo;re considering is currently at a holding location, or will be relocating due to upgrading works.
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>&ldquo;Besides cut-off points, how can we tell if a secondary school is good?&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
We have listed some factors above, such as subjects offered and CCAs, which some families prioritise. For instance, if your child is keen on a certain subject combination, or wishes to represent a school in a certain activity, these factors would play a large part in determining your school choices. 

But what if your child doesn&rsquo;t have any clear interests yet? In this case, you may want to base your decision largely on school culture. In a secondary school with a healthy culture or &lsquo;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_climate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">climate</a>,&rsquo; students should experience the following:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Safety: The school should have a strong anti-bullying stance to ensure not just physical safety within the school, but emotional security as well. Teachers should also respect the emotional well-being of their students.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Support: The academic environment must be conducive for all students to learn and grow.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Connection: There should be a steady flow of positive interactions between students, teachers, and other relevant groups.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400">Belonging: Students should have a sense of pride about their school.</li>
</ul>
How can you gauge the above? Attend Open House events, and talk to everyone you know that is connected to the school. Get opinions from current and former students, parents with teens in the school, and those who work in the school (if you happen to know them).&nbsp;
But do bear in mind that a variety of factors, including your child&rsquo;s personality, will determine whether your child can thrive in a school.&nbsp;


<ul>
<li>&ldquo;Should we choose a co-ed or single-sex secondary school?&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
Some parents prefer single-sex schools so that their children won&rsquo;t be distracted by mingling with the opposite sex. Others prefer a co-ed setting, as it reflects the mixed gender environments that children will face later in life. 

There are different arguments for and against each setting &mdash; read this <a href="https://www.everettsd.org/cms/lib07/WA01920133/Centricity/Domain/2847/Same%20Gender%20Classrooms%20Articles.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">useful summary</a> and weigh the factors for yourself.&nbsp;


<ul>
<li>&ldquo;Should we choose a school with a competitive or relaxed environment?&rdquo;</li>
</ul>
If you are thinking about this, chances are your child is considered a &lsquo;middle-ability&rsquo; or &lsquo;high-ability&rsquo; student.&nbsp; 

Some <a href="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/article/big-pond-vs-small-pond-how-does-competition-affect-our-kids/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research</a> has suggested that middle-ability students will be more motivated if they are placed alongside high-ability students. As for high-ability students, they are more likely to do well, no matter where they are placed.&nbsp;
It may be difficult for you, the parent, to make an objective decision &mdash; some parents want to protect their children from excessive pressure, even though they may thrive in demanding situations, while others want their children to make it to the &lsquo;best&rsquo; schools, even if they are less resilient.&nbsp;
Our advice? Seek an opinion from your child&rsquo;s teachers, and talk to your child to find out what he/she really wants.

Want to chat with other parents about choosing secondary schools? Join our <a href="https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&amp;t=93831&amp;start=1770" target="_blank" rel="noopener">All About PSLE AL Scoring System</a> conversation, where KSP members discuss schools and school cut-off points, and share their experiences!
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